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forsidious's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Was really impressed with this book - I had heard it was slow paced so was hesitant to read it, but so glad that didn't stop me. I'd say the first half is moderately paced, but relatively light hearted and thoroughly entertaining. I love every Gentleman Bastard and their personalities really shine as you're getting to know them. The 2nd half of the book is much faster paced and also much darker. Shit starts to go down and there are suddenly real stakes and mistakes matter beyond just not getting some coin.
Overall characters I think are where this book shines - even the side characters are great. One of my favorite characters is Sofia Salvara - she ends up being a badass and I overall love how Lynch writes his female characters. I think this is a book series that easily could have gone wrong in that department, but every female character we meet is a badass in their own right. I hope to see more female main characters in the future rather than them being sidelined.
My only complaints are the Falconer seemed too powerful at some points - I liked how it was resolved, but like...why are these guys not ruling the world? Also, Locke seems to have a bit of plot armor - he was in the cask a little too long to have survived. I think if the drama had been cut down a bit and they'd been able to get him out of it sooner then maybe...but it just feels like he's a bit *too* invincible
Overall characters I think are where this book shines - even the side characters are great. One of my favorite characters is Sofia Salvara - she ends up being a badass and I overall love how Lynch writes his female characters. I think this is a book series that easily could have gone wrong in that department, but every female character we meet is a badass in their own right. I hope to see more female main characters in the future rather than them being sidelined.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Murder, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual violence
_fallinglight_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
This is a book you have to really want to be into to enjoy and that wasn't me. It's intolerably long and overly descriptive yet with unmoving writing. I mean, I love some good world building but this was too much. I hope I never see the word “interlude” again. And though I did eventually like Locke enough, for the most part the characters were underdeveloped to the point I was stone faced when serious things happened to them bc I couldn't connect with them at all. But I did like the Gray King's coup. It was violently ruthless and gory and one of the few moments here where things actually happened and you know what? The Gray King had some points. Also, I don't know about yall but I found this book so moralistic at points, like shut up. But I'll give credit to Mr. Lynch's writing in one regard. The way he writes prayers is actually so heartfelt and they're kinda beautiful. And I liked that there wasn't too much cynism in regards to religion here compared to other dark fantasy books that do that to show how gritty and irreverent the characters/world is and blah blah.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Sexism, Fatphobia, and Body shaming
veronika_kasardova's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Torture, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child death, Animal death, Cursing, Death of parent, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Kidnapping, and Violence
alexxxx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Minor: Alcohol and Vomit
bluejayreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was recommended to me by a friend (the same friend who recommended Circe, funnily enough). And like I do with most recommendations from friends, I didn’t really pay attention to what the book was about, just threw it on my to-read list and picked it up with no expectations and no real idea of what it was even supposed to be about.
I have to take a small detour here and talk about Leverage. Leverage is a TV show featuring a bunch of variously-skilled former criminals (and one insurance investigator) who use their various criminal skills in brilliant and elaborate plans to take down criminals that the law can’t or won’t touch. I adore the show. It’s hands-down my favorite show ever and the only show I’ve loved enough to enjoy fandom content. And if Leverage was on the more dubious side of morally gray, set in a Venice-flavored fantasy world, and led by a teenager who belongs in the definition of “confidence game,” you might get something like The Lies of Locke Lamora.
I don’t know how to write a review of this book except to say that it is really, spectacularly good. It is long, even for a fantasy book, but it needs every single word of that length because there is just so much going on always and constantly. That was the overwhelming feeling I got from reading – that everywhere I looked and even in the background, there was so much going on. The action never stops, it just swings back and forth among perspectives and times. The main story of Locke and company pulling their scam and running up against the Grey King is interspersed with bits from Locke’s past, from the history of the city and nation, and other things happening in Camorr at the same time. And it’s not just Locke against the Grey King, oh no – that would be far too simple for the audacity of this book. There are no less than five, and arguably up to eight, different factions fighting for their own goals for their own reasons (and two of them are Locke himself).
A large part of what makes this book so hard to review is that the details are revealed in layers. It starts out with a crew of talented thieves and grifters preparing to run an elaborate con on a pair of nobles. Okay, I thought, A fun and adventurous heist story. Cool. And then the story begins to peel back the layers to all the competing factions, all the factors at play in Camorr, all the plans set in motion and beginning to come to a head, and suddenly the highly entertaining and audacious heist is one of the least interesting parts of the story.
Everything is happening all the time and you’re constantly getting more information and nothing is ever what it seems. You may have gotten through three twists and finally think that you’re at the truth of something finally and you’re probably wrong. Very few solid answers are available to any but the most perceptive reader (definitely not me) until the very end. And I adored it. It was somehow both incredibly dark and a ton of fun, full of plot twists, overlapping schemes, audacious plans that somehow delightfully work, and steady slow reveals that felt like repeatedly handing me puzzle pieces and requiring me to figure out where they went while I was still receving more puzzle pieces.
I didn’t know going in that this was a series, but you’d better believe I’m reading the next book. And I very much hope that it’s more of the same.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Blood, Gore, Violence, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Excrement, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Terminal illness and Sexual content
grayscale08's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Murder, Child death, Blood, Death, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexism, Cursing, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Mental illness
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug use, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Animal death, Excrement, Fatphobia, and Vomit
singalana's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Animal death, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Torture
Minor: Excrement, Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Death of parent
corvicore's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I'm mad i read this book so early in the year cause i honestly don't think anything i read for next 10 months will top it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Excrement, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Vomit, Trafficking, Slavery, and Fatphobia
czfries's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Trafficking, Gore, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Cursing, and Child death
Minor: Sexual content
randanopterix's review
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I have so much to say about this book it’s honesty impossible to say it all. As far as I’m concerned, it’s perfect. No book has made me laugh as often and few books have made me cry as hard. I have BIG FEELINGS about this book.
It’s heists are genius in their construction, the characters are insanely loveable, the dialogue is realistic and hilarious, and the relationships built between the cast are surprisingly heartwarming. Now, if you think the stakes are high 100 pages in, friend, I hope you’re ready to be stressed as FUCK because the stakes only get higher and higher.
I’m obsessed with this book, not much more to say past that.
Tagging the rest of this review as spoilers as it’s pretty much going to include notes from my annotations:
• Jean Tannen is a murderous, sensitive, smart, fat king and I hope he lives to be 200 and the rest of his life full of happiness and joy.
• Locke is a terrible little rat of a man who I desperately want to be happy. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that, king.
• Calo and Galdo, real ones. Y’all didn’t deserve any of that.
• Bug absolutely fucking broke me. Heartbroken. The worst part was that I read up to Calo and Galdo’s death when I had to clock out from work. I had the whole ride home to be shattered about them and scheme about how Bug, Jean, and Locke were gonna take revenge before I finally got home to read the rest of the chapter….
• WHERE. IS. SABETHA.
• Bondsmagi OP, plz nerf /s
• Doña Vorchenza keeps taking those L’s.
• Let me preface this by saying that I LOVED the way women were written and portrayed in this book. Absolutely none of it was patronizing or unrealistic and they were all distinct characters capable of the same level of cunning and brutality as any of their male counterparts. THAT BEING SAID: Was a little disappointed that the two women characters who had potential to be a part of the main crew as it were (Nazca and Sabetha) were neatly folded up and put away for the majority of the novel. Hoping I get to know what the deal is w Sabetha in the next book because she didn’t even show up in the flashback portions of this one and it made her feel like she wasn’t even a part of the Bastards…
• The bank scene is genuinely one of the most insane, most clever, and most hilarious things I’ve ever read. POOR BENJAVIER.
• I was on the toilet during the scene where Locke speaks Bug’s true name and let me tell you, crying heartily about that while pooping was not my most dignified moment.
It’s heists are genius in their construction, the characters are insanely loveable, the dialogue is realistic and hilarious, and the relationships built between the cast are surprisingly heartwarming. Now, if you think the stakes are high 100 pages in, friend, I hope you’re ready to be stressed as FUCK because the stakes only get higher and higher.
I’m obsessed with this book, not much more to say past that.
Tagging the rest of this review as spoilers as it’s pretty much going to include notes from my annotations:
• Jean Tannen is a murderous, sensitive, smart, fat king and I hope he lives to be 200 and the rest of his life full of happiness and joy.
• Locke is a terrible little rat of a man who I desperately want to be happy. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that, king.
• Calo and Galdo, real ones. Y’all didn’t deserve any of that.
• Bug absolutely fucking broke me. Heartbroken. The worst part was that I read up to Calo and Galdo’s death when I had to clock out from work. I had the whole ride home to be shattered about them and scheme about how Bug, Jean, and Locke were gonna take revenge before I finally got home to read the rest of the chapter….
• WHERE. IS. SABETHA.
• Bondsmagi OP, plz nerf /s
• Doña Vorchenza keeps taking those L’s.
• Let me preface this by saying that I LOVED the way women were written and portrayed in this book. Absolutely none of it was patronizing or unrealistic and they were all distinct characters capable of the same level of cunning and brutality as any of their male counterparts. THAT BEING SAID: Was a little disappointed that the two women characters who had potential to be a part of the main crew as it were (Nazca and Sabetha) were neatly folded up and put away for the majority of the novel. Hoping I get to know what the deal is w Sabetha in the next book because she didn’t even show up in the flashback portions of this one and it made her feel like she wasn’t even a part of the Bastards…
• The bank scene is genuinely one of the most insane, most clever, and most hilarious things I’ve ever read. POOR BENJAVIER.
• I was on the toilet during the scene where Locke speaks Bug’s true name and let me tell you, crying heartily about that while pooping was not my most dignified moment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Murder, Child death, Cursing, Alcohol, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Vomit, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Trafficking, and Slavery
Minor: Abandonment, Classism, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Rape, War, and Drug abuse